She Should Have Expected It, And In A Way She Had Done. Still, She Hadn't Exactly Prepared, Too Engrossed
She should have expected it, and in a way she had done. Still, she hadn't exactly prepared, too engrossed in her work or at least in avoiding it to the best of her ability. She had planned a relatively easy day for herself, a few hours in the archives going through the records for the Center for Religion and Media, something she could certainly find some joy in even on the worst of her days. Apparently the universe had other ideas and Zahra's simple day took a turn just as she was reaching the steps of the archives. She stopped, took a look around as if trying to figure out where the voice was coming from even though she had absolutely no doubts. At least it bought her some time. "Azhar," she replied, involuntarily amused by the anagram of their names once again. She was sure her voice shook ever so slightly but hoped it would simply seem like a sign of being out of breath. "It's me. I'm, uh, just heading in."
closed starter for @ofzahras , on campus at new york university near the library / archives.
sighing, azhar ran a hand across his head before adjusting his beanie. although the autumnal weather had yet to hit the streets, and the leaves were not changing except for slight yellow and orange tints at their edges, he was prepared for the brisk wind that promised a temperature drop. deep in thought about that thesis he had begun reading, having been asked to proofread it by one of his students for their presentation upcoming, and his head ached in the place that he couldn't knead out. reminded him of so much agony, really. how he spent too much time on it. or not enough. but he didn't want to be held down by his past, intending on heading home and relieving devi of her watching - duties earlier than intended as a surprise. that was, until azhar himself was surprised. dressed in the dark brown suit jacket and casual blouse of his lecture earlier, he paused when he spotted a familiar visage. slowly blinking. ( am i seeing things? ) “zahra?” too old, and exhausted, to waste much time. ( not to mention his heart ached. in a strange way. right there, in his throat. ) “did i fall 'sleep back there or is that really you?”
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"Not really. They had the best program and I got in. Made sense," she answered, flicking the ashes from her cigarette, "and I had already moved to North Carolina before that. Equally far from Minnesota. Although I guess Durham wasn't as wild as New York City." She shrugged at their question, carefully considering her answer. "I don't know. I guess it depends on what you mean by home. It's been, what, sixteen years since I've lived in the Midwest." She studied them for a moment, full brows knitted together. "You don't seem to be the biggest fan of the city. What brought you here?"
"Only if you don't share." Theo gave the other a playful smirk as they both walked in tandem through New York. "You came all the way here for uni then? That's bold." They said as they offered to lit her cigarette and then lit their own, making them stop walking for a moment. "What does feel more like home, here or your hometown?"
They both resumed their walk soon after their cigs were lit. It was a nice night in New York. Theo wasn't used to that type of heat yet but they didn't mind it all that much. They'll mind it less when they get that cold beer.
"See, you're only being smart and responsible. God knows I end up buying all sorts of weird shit when I go food shopping hungry. And somehow I never actually end up picking things I could turn into an actual meal. Just, I don't know, the biggest watermelon I can find and candy bars I liked as a kid." Admittedly her shopping trips were rarely particularly well-thought-out, mostly because she could not bring herself to plan or, god forbid, meal prep. Although maybe cutting up and storing a giant watermelon could be seen as a form of meal prepping. "I once had a nightmare about that super expensive LA grocery store. Woke up screaming."
Violet nodded along, eyes becoming bigger than her stomach. "I saw some crepes listed, how does that sound? They have one with nutella and strawberries which is always a classic. I definitely know I'll need a side of bacon that's for sure. Okay yep, I'll do the crepes with a side of eggs and bacon. It might not taste all good together, but I want to try it." She laughed, setting down her menu with finality. "I desperately need to go food shopping, so this will give me the strength to brave the supermarket. People can be ruthless if you get between them and their Greek yogurt."
"I highly recomend it. Works better than any melatonin or sleeping pill I've tried." Admittedly reading academic literature related to her research project before bed had caused some rather anxious dreams for Zahra, but sometimes restless sleep was better than no sleep at all. She was still hopeful a breakthrough would eventually come, and the smart, logical part of her that was highly unlikely to happen if she evaded sleep any more than she already did. The chapters she had written while completely sleep-deprived were hardly worth keeping and not anything she wanted to share.
Zahra nodded, grateful Birdie didn't seem to expect any more words of praise for helping her out. "It's kind of the only thing that is really expected of me at this point, you know. Well, that and writing," she explained, "so realistically I should have enough time to get through them." She definitely hadn't.
As much as Birdie liked to learn all about all sorts of things, the title of the book wasn't one that held her attention. "Sounds like it." A snort followed her comment before she continued, "You might be onto something there with the bedtime reading. If I read something like that, it might put me right to sleep." Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Her sleep schedule had been a mess for who even knew how long at this point, so honestly she would be willing to try anything to get it even remotely on track again, even if it meant reading something that might bore her to tears.
"It's no problem." She brushed off the thanks as she looked over the books in her hands. Even when she was younger and on track to becoming one of those gifted kids she didn't think she would've been capable of getting through all this material. "Jeez, how do you even find the time to read all this? I'm lucky if I manage to find the time to read two or three books in a month."
Zahra nodded along as Violet spoke, delighted she seemed to be doing well. "That sounds great. God, I wish everyone had the chance to talk to someone like you. I am sure we would have much healthier, uh, encounters." She had certainly met her fair share of people who could've benefited from a little chat with an expert, herself included. Zahra groaned audibly as Violet asked about her work. She absolutely did not admit just how little she had achieved in the last few weeks, but there was no hiding just how frustrated she really was. "Not going well. I'm teaching a class in the fall, maybe that'll help. I don't know, I guess I'm just stuck."
"Oh definitely, it's much easier to meet up either individually or in small groups. I prefer it." She said, ordering a mimosa for herself. When in Rome after all. "I'm doing well, work is busy but rewarding. I made some really great breakthroughs with a client. I can't go into detail obviously but we managed to help her have a successful sexual encounter with her new boyfriend. It was really great." She explained, perusing the menu for a moment. "How are you? How's your work going? Or do you want to avoid that subject?"
Zahra wanted to argue and assure she was indeed doing just that, but the words didn't make their way out of her mouth. He lips twitched slightly as she sighed and reached to rub her aching neck. Previously figuring out work-life balance hadn't been such a daunting task; she had been able to distance herself from her research the moment she closed her laptop or put away whatever book she was reading. Recently, however, she seemed to be spending more and more time thinking about and dreading over work. "Yeah, I know. I do have fun," she replied, well aware just how defensive she sounded. "Anyway, better ge these inside." Oh, how she wanted to change the subject.
She glanced at Birdie, trying her very best to smile somewhat convincingly. "What have you been up to? Been busy?"
"Well, I'm more than willing to try anything at least once, even if it's not the most exciting." She felt like that was a fairly accurate statement. In her opinion, it was hard to figure out what you liked, what you were good at, and what worked best for you if you never branched out and tried new things. On the flipside, it was entirely possible that she ran through new experiences too fast and never gave things their proper time.
"On top of being a person and experiencing life." Birdie never felt like life should be all work, there had to be a balance. Living life without doing anything for yourself to relax sounded like a miserable way to live. "Not even necessarily in a fun way. I mean, reading all that on top of maintaining things around my place feels like it would suck up more time than I could possibly have." There never seemed to be enough hours in the day. "But, you know, there definitely be some time for fun or at least something enjoyable too."
She grimaced visibly before nodding. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she hurried to assure despite feeling anything but fine. Still, it was none of this stranger's business and not something she wanted to burden him with. "It's just hot. It was quite the way to get those books here." Despite her resistance, Zahra did eventually sit down, the physical exhaustion catching up with her. "Thank you. I'm Zahra, by the way. Thank you for you help."
The change in her demeanor worried him immediately. He frowned and stepped a little closer but not too much as to invade her space. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked, looking around the library. "Do you want to maybe sit down?" made a move to lead her to one of the chairs nearby, not able to actually grabbed her because his arms were full of her books that they hadn't returned yet.
While she had never been great at accepting help, Zahra was grateful she had run into Julia, and even more grateful she seemed to be more than willing to offer a helping hand. "Thank you," she sighed, still catching her breath.
Zahra pulled an amused face at Julia's suggestion. "That's not a terrible idea. Although I hope I won't have to do this sort of a walk of shame anytime soon." Yes, she could have made multiple trips to the library, but somehow that had sounded even more laborious before she had actually started her perilous journey. Now she wholeheartedly regretted making said decision. "But I will definitely keep that in mind if I do end up in a similar situation." Glancing at Julia, she managed a brief yet knowing smile. "I see you're leaving empty-handed."
Julia didn’t know Zahra well - they were both in the library together on multiple occasions seemingly browsing or reading the same section, meaning she recognised her face as they came across each other at the door of the public library. As for judging her for this many books? That would be the pot calling the kettle black so instead she just gave her a small smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Here, you take one handle and I’ll take the other.” Luckily she didn’t have any books with her right now due to being on the way to pick one up, so her hands were free to attempt helping. Not that she was particulaly strong.
“You need to invest in one of those wagons they put kids in to pull them along.” She joked lightly. @ofzahras
While tall and wiry, Zahra had never been the athletic or muscular sort. If anything, her height was of the lanky type, all long limbs and sharp edges. Evidently that was not the case with this stranger who seemed to have no problem carrying the mammoth bag. "Just inside, thank you. I need to return them."
The woman looked down at the bag and picked it up with a perfect ease, the weight not at all a bother for the huge woman. Hazel looked down at the bag and then to the smaller woman before her "Sure, so where do you want it?" she asked casually with a little shrug.
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